Letters to the Editor: Stats is shopping in an old-fashioned way

I want to say that my experience at Stats in Old Pasadena for the day after Christmas "Everything at Half Price Sale" was handled by their employees in a very professional matter.

From the parking attendants directing traffic to the assistants in the store and the checkers at the checkouts, everyone was courteous amid the chaos and effective and there were few people waiting in line. The selection was still great when I arrived at 10 a.m. even though they opened at 5 a.m. I know now why Stats is a landmark. They have continued to keep over all these years the professional service to their customers that Pasadena and surrounding cities expect.

Thank you, Stats.

-Gary Kaloostian, Pasadena

Paradise lost

Your Dec. 25 article on prison realignment noted thousands of felons have been released by Governor Brown and are back on the streets. I have lived in the Linda Vista area of Pasadena for over 50 years.

The house in which my children grew up could not be locked. The windows swung open at a touch. Our kitchen door was glass-louvered; you pulled one up and reached in to open the door if it had been inadvertently locked. I don't remember even having a door key for the front door.

Now times have changed. In the last four months we have had three attempted daytime break-ins. Once the alarm was not set and every drawer in the house was emptied looking for cash. A laptop computer was stolen.

The second and third times the alarm was set and the thieves fled with no apparent loss but each time the door and lock were kicked in, requiring costly repair.

The police are apparently helpless to stop this crime wave.

And so we all must be vigilant. See something or someone not normal in your neighborhood, call 911. Get alarm signs for your lawn.

Get a fierce dog that barks. Install cameras that record motion around the outside of your home.

Our paradise has been turned into a jungle by the release of so many unsupervised criminals.